February was very Full

Gil and I took a walk at the Jackson Bottom Lands


Sulking girls.

A day with kids at home and school

Alexis's birthday party at the bowling alley. There was fog and lots of loud music and flashing lights. Lots of fun.

Kevan and Alexis with presents
Karissa with bowling ball

Alexis with bag from me.

The birthday family at the end of the party.

Nancy visiting at the Ashley's for Alexis's birthday.

Karissa by Alexis's 'Fancy Nancy' doll.

Alexis modeling dress Nancy gave her.

Naomi and her 2 dogs: Kitty and Sammy

Gil celebrated 35 years at Tektronix. He was gifted with a telescope for his years of service. It arrived inside of 4 layers of boxes.

Vicki and I visited Hug Point at the Coast. It was a fantastic day with an amazing sunset.

William stood in my corner to see how tall he is getting...
Karissa took a nap in my car on the way to.... toys and chocolate. A great day together.

January is in the past

New Years day, Jacob and Josef came to celebrate the holidays. The weather had prevented getting together earlier.




Nancy came down from Washington to celebrate Karissa's birthday and meet Naomi's new dog, Sammy.



Nancy was here on her birthday and trimmed up Kevan's hair.




I flew to Florida and drove Nancy's car and dog (Gerda) to Tri-Cities Washington. Along the way, I stopped and visited family.


First stop was north of Houston, Texas with my brother Jerry and his family.
On the couch: Landon, Trevor, Gretchen holding ToffeeFay, Katherine, and Matthew holding Twix. Gerda had a good visit with the new dachshunds, ToffeeFay and Twix. Weather was good. We stayed 2 nights and I was taken to a great Mexican restaurant serving stuffed avocados. Also got to go house hunting and came very close to seeing the house they moved to in Trumball.



The next stop was East of Albuquerque, New Mexico at Gil's niece, Carla Peterson. Her children, Lacey and Steven are with her in the first, and her husband Steve in the next photo.


The third stop was near Colorado Springs, Colorado. My niece, Rachel Connell with her daughter and granddaughter. (Jessica and Angelina)


I took the I70 west through the Rockies to get to Utah next. Very scary. The roads after the long tunnel were very icy and dicey. Saw lots of stalls and near accidents. I was glad to get to my brother, Rick's in Bountiful, Utah.

My cousins, Dennis and Gayle Whitmer joined us in visiting Aunt Gladys Bronson at the nursing home in Sandy Utah. We had a delightful time trying to engage my dear aunt in stories and songs. Uncle Boyd and their daughter, Elaine shared a lot of family history. I have great story tellers for cousins!



Rick made this cedar chest in wood shop at Oregon City High School. I have it's twin. Nancy had this one until this last move when she could no longer keep it.



When Rick had to go to work, and Anna piloting me, I visited with Michelle, Mark and Ava at their home:


Then we went to Jessica's and had a wonderful evening playing with the kids and eating lots of pizza. Gerda didn't get to meet these dogs. But, she had lots of fun with cats and dogs all along the trip. Anna's friend Doug joined us. Jessica is holding her charmers, Akaylia and Lucas. John had to work.



It was raining pretty hard all night, then turned to snow the next day. I decided I better hurry home, and left after noon. It was a scary, snowy, icy drive through Idaho and Oregon. Picked up Nancy in Tri-cities and she got me home safely. I was really glad to have visited everyone that I did along the way.

December we will remember....

The month started so normally

Nancy lived with us for part of the month, but left for a job interview in Richland, Washington and wasn't able to return until after Christmas.


Naomi made soup for my 55th Birthday and Teresa and her kids joined our family in festivities.
(none of the little kids would hold still long enough for pictures)

Kevan and William came to play and wore their matching shirts for some cousin time.

Luckily Kevan celebrated his 8th birthday a few days early at 'Out of this World Pizza'

-Kevan watching the candles being lit. (sisters: Katy, Tory & Ashley are next to him)

-Alexis & Bret - Karissa & Naomi - Desirae & Brenda- waiting for a turn on the inflatable slide.

The first snow fell after Kevan's party and was pretty, but began causing transportation problems. (We are snow-pansies here in the Portland area - not enough experience or equipment to keep things together - - hey, it's been 40 years since an event this big)

The Granddaughters got to spend time with us while their parents worked hard driving employees to work sites.

Kevan made it to visit on his Birthday. He had so much fun, he stayed 2 nights with us so he could play with toys and cousins.

Gil and Nancy got some exercise...

The kids had fun playing in the snow, even if it wouldn't roll for snowmen. (Too dry and crispy)

Winter Solstice dropped so much more snow that low riding vehicles couldn't get out and around, so we postponed our usual Christmas eve party. (there were 2 ice crusts in the 8-10 inches we finally had)

Bret drove the girls to our house on Christmas day...yipee for the Ford Escape

Alexis and Karissa had fun with the 'Oswald's' I made and wearing pajamas all day.

Kevan made it to our house the day after Christmas only because he had another appointment that wouldn't be postponed (driving was bad, bad bad).

Gil spent his whole vacation from Tektronix building new cupboards for our kitchen.

When the snow finally started melting, our holiday get-together was postponed due to illness, and Nancy was driving with Sean to Florida to pack it all up and move back here. So, we ended the year 2008 without our usual family time and togetherness. . We have lots of hopes and plans for a great 2009!